Table of contents
- General
- What is The Mercury?
- Does UTD run The Mercury?
- Who funds The Mercury?
- Where can I read The Mercury?
- How can I submit articles to The Mercury?
- How can I join The Mercury?
- How can I donate to The Mercury?
- Policies
- Does The Mercury allow anonymous sources?
- Does The Mercury have a code of ethics?
- I have an idea or a tip, will The Mercury investigate/report on it?
- Source FAQs
- “How do I know the person who contacted me is a Mercury reporter?”
- “Why do reporters ask to record the interview? Why not take notes?”
- “What is ‘on the record’?”
- “How soon do I need to respond to a reporter?”
- “I don’t want to have an in-person interview. Can I do the interview via email?”
- “Why won’t the reporter send over the questions? How should I prepare for the interview?”
- “I want to read the story or at least my quotes before it goes to print to make sure it is accurate. Why won’t the reporter send it over?”
- “A story was printed that pertained to my department, and we were not given a chance to respond. What should I do?”
- “I wasn’t happy with a reporter’s behavior or the information in the story was inaccurate. Whom should I contact?”
General
What is The Mercury?
The Mercury is UTD’s award-winning, student-run news publication. Since 1980, we have focused on UTD’s students, the faculty and community around them and the events that impact them. The Mercury publishes news, life and arts, opinions and sports coverage every other Monday during the academic year and three times during the summer semester.
The Mercury has received hundreds of national industry awards over the years, including CMA’s “Best Newspaper of the Year” in 2021, “Best Campus Engagement” in 2023 and “People’s Choice” in 2024. We are leaders in design and local journalism, and we’re always bringing the latest stories to our fellow students.
Read our full mission statement here.
Does UTD run The Mercury?
No. While The Mercury is organized under the Office of Student Affairs, we are editorially independent from UTD, meaning the university or its employees do not control which stories we write or how we write them. We take pride in our independence, which allows us to investigate the more secretive aspects of UTD and help hold those in power accountable. All editorial decisions are made by our editorial board, which is staffed entirely by students.
Who funds The Mercury?
The Mercury is funded by student fees, and makes revenue through print and digital advertisements and donations to our official gift account. Student fee funding means every tuition-paying student at UTD is a paid subscriber to The Mercury. Occasionally, The Mercury runs fundraisers to cover costs relevant to our journalism, such as paying for public records requests.
Where can I read The Mercury?
The Mercury publishes biweekly in print and digital mediums. You can pick up the latest copy of The Mercury at any of our 46 on-campus kiosk locations, read the latest articles on our website or follow us on social media for real-time coverage and story teasers.
Instagram: @utdmercury
LinkedIn: utdmercury
Twitter: @utdmercury
How can I submit articles to The Mercury?
The Mercury accepts opinion-editorials from students and letters to the editor from anyone within the UTD community, including faculty and alumni. Visit the Submit an Op/Ed or Letter to the Editor page for further details.
Tips, requests and suggestions for news and life & arts coverage should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief at editor@utdmercury.com. To join The Mercury as a reporter, artist or photographer, visit our Join page.
How can I join The Mercury?
The Mercury currently employs staff writers, graphic artists and photographers. Hiring applications typically open each semester.
Applications are primarily reviewed during the summer semester, but during the fall and spring semesters The Mercury employs a rolling application process where applicants are considered once they fill out the application form and email the Editor-in-Chief.
For more information about current opportunities at The Mercury, visit our Join page.
How can I donate to The Mercury?
The Mercury has a gift account with the university accessible through this link. Donations can be made by selecting “The Mercury” in the “Designation” drop-down menu, or by selecting “Other” and manually entering “The Mercury” if the premade option does not show up.
All donations to this account are considered general donations and will be used for whatever journalistic end The Mercury’s editorial board sees fit, unless a particular use is specified via the comment box.
Policies
Does The Mercury allow anonymous sources?
In short, not usually. Anonymity is granted to sources at the sole discretion of the Editor-in-Chief in cases where stating a source’s name puts them in danger of physical or emotional harm; potentially impacts legal proceedings or active litigation; potentially results in discrimination or firing from employment or academic suspension or expulsion; or other demonstrable harm as deemed significant by the Editor-in-Chief, and the source’s contribution to the story is deemed indispensable. Only the Editor-in-Chief may grant anonymity; if you have been promised anonymity by any other member of The Mercury for a story without explicit confirmation from the Editor-in-Chief, contact the Editor-in-Chief immediately.
The full text of The Mercury’s anonymity policy is as follows:
The Mercury’s anonymity policy is guided by the questions posed by the SPJ ethics committee, other reputable publications, industry experts and the material conditions affecting campus coverage.
The Editor-in-Chief of The Mercury is the sole member of the student newspaper capable of granting anonymity. Reporters should never tell sources that the reporter can grant them anonymity. they must inform the Editor-in-Chief about the request for anonymity and provide all relevant details regarding the request to the Editor-in-Chief to allow for a holistic consideration of the request.
Articles under the Life & Arts and Sports sections should never have anonymous sources. News stories concerning sensitive topics, ongoing legal action and other imminent risks to sources may be granted anonymity at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief. Examples of subject matter and articles that merit anonymity are provided in the examples portion of Section 1.1.1- Anonymity. Editorials may use information from an anonymous source at the discretion of the editorial board; however, articles within the Opinion section ought to avoid the use of anonymous sources.
Sources must be identified whenever feasible, since the public is entitled to as much information as possible regarding the source’s reliability. Reporters should use every possible avenue to confirm and attribute information before relying on unnamed sources. If the only way to publish a story important to The Mercury’s audience is to use anonymous sources, then the reporter should identify the source as clearly as possible without exposing the anonymous source’s identity.
Pseudonyms should never be used when granting a source anonymity to avoid confusion in the article. Anonymous sources should instead be referred to with as much supporting information as possible such as “source in X student group,” “source in X administrative office,” or simply “anonymous source.”
If a source requests anonymity before an interview, reporters should immediately connect the source with the Editor-in-Chief. This can take the form of copying the EIC onto the email chain or giving the Editor-in-Chief the source’s contact information so that the Editor-in-Chief may contact the source as soon as possible.
If a source requests anonymity during an interview, reporters should inform the source that only the Editor-in-Chief may grant anonymity. Reporters should then attempt to call the Editor-in-Chief for immediate contact with the source. If the Editor-in-Chief is unavailable, the reporter must ask the source if they are okay continuing with the interview and discussing anonymity with the Editor-in-Chief afterwards. It should be made clear to the source that if The Mercury decides to not grant them anonymity and the source does not want to go on the record, then their information will not be used by the publication.
The Mercury does not apply retroactive anonymity to a source. If statements were given willingly on the record and a source decides to renege on their agreement to be on the record, then the source should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief. A source reneging before publication may have their statements removed from the article at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief; however, published statements should never be changed unless under the most exceptional circumstances such as fabrication or misattribution.
The Editor-in-Chief should always consider what motivations a source has for seeking anonymity. The Editor-in-Chief should ensure that a source is not seeking anonymity in an attempt to boost their own position by undermining someone else’s, to even the score with a rival, to attack an opponent or to push a personal agenda. Anonymity is a tool to protect key vulnerable sources, it should not be a bludgeon used by sources to attack others free of repercussions.
Promises and agreements made by the Editor-in-Chief with a source must be kept. If a source has been granted anonymity, then they should receive it fully within the relevant article. Reporters should NEVER promise anonymity to a source of their own accord.
The identity of an anonymous source should be restricted to as few people as possible. In most cases, the identity should be known only by the Editor-in-Chief and the reporter.
In instances where there is no other form of corroborating evidence, such as public records, video or photographic evidence, it is preferable to have various sources, even if anonymous, confirm information. For instance, if international students working at the Dining Hall have been mentally or physically abused by their managers, having two or more anonymous sources supporting this point is much better than a single anonymous source. Like all information from sources, it is the responsibility of The Mercury to ensure the highest degree of accuracy within the sourced information.
Examples
Examples are provided to serve as a framework of interpretation for the points outlined within the above section. This list is neither conclusive nor exhaustive, and real situations typically have an intersectional overlap of multiple considerations. The Editor-in-Chief should first and foremost work to protect the safety of students being interviewed for an article.
Where anonymity ought to be granted by the EIC on request:
- A student has been sexually assaulted by a professor or other campus employee. It would be preferable to use other, potentially also anonymous sources, who have undergone a similar experience instead of a single allegation.
- An international student working at the Dining Hall has been mentally or physically abused by their managers. Having two or more anonymous sources supporting this point is much better than a single allegation.
- Students arrested by UTDPD are being legally and/or academically prosecuted by UTD
- Student at risk of being put on Canary Mission or other doxxing platforms because of protest activities are being interviewed about the protest or similar political event
- A student is interviewing about something that puts them at risk of losing their degree or facing academic suspension or even expulsion from UTD
- A student who fears physical or financial abuse at home is interviewing about being LGBTQ+
- A student is interviewing about something that directly and immediately increases their risk of a racial or other hate crime/discrimination
- A student in the middle of litigation or a class action lawsuit wants to share some relevant details but has been advised to maintain silence by lawyers
- A student has done something illegal and is on the run from cops; we are interviewing them about it
Reasons not to grant anonymity:
- Someone fears for their reputation or social standing
- Someone fears for future employment prospects
- Someone “feels unsafe” without the existence of a researched, demonstrable real world impact on their physical or mental safety
- Someone wishes to spread hateful or controversial rhetoric without immediate social consequence
Does The Mercury have a code of ethics?
The Mercury follows the code of ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists, as outlined below:
- Seek Truth and Report It: Ethical journalism should be accurate and fair. Journalists should be honest and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.
- Minimize Harm: Ethical journalism treats sources, subjects, colleagues and members of the public as human beings deserving of respect.
- Act Independently: The highest and primary obligation of ethical journalism is to serve the public.
- Be Accountable and Transparent: Ethical journalism means taking responsibility for one’s work and explaining one’s decisions to the public.
I have an idea or a tip, will The Mercury investigate/report on it?
Tips, requests and suggestions for news and life & arts coverage are welcome, and should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief. Any information provided to The Mercury in confidence will be used in independent investigation and will not cite your name without permission.
If a tip or request of yours did not materialize into an article, it may be because The Mercury has incorporated it into a long-term investigative project or was unable to gather enough evidence to meet our fact-based journalistic standards.
Source FAQs
“How do I know the person who contacted me is a Mercury reporter?”
Ask the reporter for their press badge when they arrive to the interview. All staff reporters are asked to carry one. Reporters contact sources using their UTD email or a Mercury email, like news@utdmercury.com. You can also contact editors directly to verify the identity of a reporter through our Contact page, or request the reporter refer you to their supervising editor.
“Why do reporters ask to record the interview? Why not take notes?”
The Mercury requires that all its reporters use recorders and take notes. This practice ensures information is reported accurately, and recordings are also saved in the event that The Mercury must verify quotes. Interview recordings are considered confidential and securely maintained within The Mercury’s system.
“What is ‘on the record’?”
Speaking to a reporter “on the record” implies that anything said during the interview could be quoted or otherwise published and attributed to the speaker. If a source would like to share sensitive information not fit for publication, they must explicitly state that during the interview, which is called “going off the record.”
“How soon do I need to respond to a reporter?”
Reporters have a three-to-four day timeframe to write and turn in their first drafts. Ideally, a reporter will contact you on a Monday to ensure they have enough time for interviews before the week ends. Reporters may determine the need for a source later in the process, sometimes contacting a source early in the second week of the production cycle. However, a reporter should provide the source with a three-to-four day timeframe to respond. In special circumstances, like breaking news, a reporter might contact you on the phone for an immediate response.
“I don’t want to have an in-person interview. Can I do the interview via email?”
To avoid the risk of censorship and promote authenticity, The Mercury strongly discourages the use of email interviews. Only the Editor-in-Chief may permit an email interview.
Staff reporters want to have conversations and develop positive working relationships with their campus contacts. While we always prefer an in-person interview, reporters may interview sources on the phone in the interest of time and availability.
“Why won’t the reporter send over the questions? How should I prepare for the interview?”
According to Mercury policy, reporters are not allowed to send out questions to sources prior to an interview. We want interviews to be conversational to allow for a candid discussion of the issue at hand. However, you may ask the reporter about the topics that will be covered and the perspective the reporter is trying to provide to the story.
“I want to read the story or at least my quotes before it goes to print to make sure it is accurate. Why won’t the reporter send it over?”
According to Mercury policy, prior review is prohibited. Reviewing content prior to publication is not an accepted practice in student and professional publications. Especially in the college setting, prior review would significantly increase the risk of censorship. Anything that is spoken “on the record” can be used for the purposes of the story unless clarified as above. Like most professional publications, The Mercury leaves quotes unaltered, only making slight edits in order to aid reader comprehension. The Mercury is committed to reporting information accurately.
To ensure accuracy and fairness of particularly complex or sensitive subject matter, reporters can call sources to review select parts of the story in order to confirm factual accuracy. This is done at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief.
“A story was printed that pertained to my department, and we were not given a chance to respond. What should I do?”
Contact the Editor-in-Chief and inform them that you were not provided with a chance to respond. They will work with you to get the correct information published. This typically manifests as a correction to the original article, which is implemented on The Mercury’s website and social media immediately and runs in print in the next issue.
“I wasn’t happy with a reporter’s behavior or the information in the story was inaccurate. Whom should I contact?”
Please contact the Editor-in-Chief to report the issue. If it is determined that factually inaccurate information was published, corrections and/or redactions will be made online and on social media as soon as possible and discipline, if deemed appropriate, will be administered to the relevant writers. A correction will run in print in the following issue as well.